Glendronach versus Glenfarclas versus Macallan. Immediately, you’ve already chosen your winner. You’ve no doubt got your own favourite, and you’re probably even wondering how this could possibly even be a close race worth discussing! Is there a rivalry between these three heavyweights? Let’s dig a little deeper…
It may sound silly, given that many of today’s more famous distilleries have been around for 100 to 200 years, but the reputations that most distilleries enjoy or have today were forged in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. This can be attributed to two things: Firstly, this is when the current single malt boom started, and it was when Michael Jackson’s “Malt Whisky Companion” was first published and was THE authority on whisky. If Jackson wrote that distillery XYZ was famous for producing the best sherried whiskies in Scotland, then the entire world happily believed him, and such reputations were accepted as gospel. The marketing departments of some whisky brands would also then happily run with his viewpoints, further cementing particular stereotypes. (For example, the first words in Jackson’s listing for Macallan were “The Rolls-Royce of Single Malts”, and Macallan continues to trade on and repeat those words to this day).
The second driver of such reputations becoming cemented around this time was that it coincided with the uptake and spread of the internet. Whisky discussion groups, forums, and what we’d loosely call the whisky enthusiasts’ community sprung up across the planet, and the mere presence of widespread, global discussion amongst whisky lovers allowed such reputations to foster, grow, and proliferate.
By the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, there were three standout distilleries that were genuinely and universally acknowledged as being the forerunners when it came to consistent, quality sherry maturation. Glendronach, Macallan, and Glenfarclas. Now put into context what the state of play was at that time: Glendronach was a small-ish distillery, owned by Allied, and didn’t receive a huge amount of love, PR or exposure. Macallan was almost universally acclaimed as the best whisky in the world, and it was a major distillery under Highland Distillers. And Glenfarclas was – and still is – an independent, family-owned distillery.
You also need to appreciate what the whisky scene was like at that time in terms of what distilleries were releasing. Today we are spoiled for choice – almost every distillery has as many five, six, seven or even eight whiskies in its core portfolio, let alone all the special releases being frequently launched. In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, things were delightfully simple: Most distilleries had just two, possibly three releases in their portfolio. And without getting too simplistic or getting into specifics about it, it was common for many distilleries to have just a 12yo, a 15yo, and an 18yo.
As someone who was very heavily involved in tastings and the scene at that time across many tasting groups, whisky forums, brands and events, Whisky & Wisdom can report that most whisky folks who enjoyed sherried-style malts would compare and rank these three distilleries by the common thread they shared, namely the 15yo. Hence, it was commonplace at many tastings I attended (or presented – I did a fair bit of brand ambassador work for Macallan from 2000-2005) to frequently directly compare and contrast the Macallan 15yo versus the Glenfarclas 15yo versus the Glendronach 15yo. And my personal observation at the events I attended was that most people would rank them in that order.
Then a few things happened around 2005 that re-shaped the playing field: Macallan stopped producing the 15yo, citing that it was preventing them from sourcing enough stock for their increasingly popular 18yo. Shortly afterwards, they also introduced their Fine Oak range and withdrew their sherried products from many markets (including Australia). Suddenly, Macallan was no longer synonymous with sherry.
Glendronach had also been closed for a few years (1996-2002) and then changed ownership to Pernod Ricard in 2005, thereby triggering a change in what was being bottled and released. The 15yo disappeared from many markets (including Australia). And, in what would have far-reaching implications, a lot of Glendronach’s new make spirit was filled into ex-bourbon casks, rather than ex-sherry casks.
That left Glenfarclas as the last major player in the world of consistent, quality sherried whiskies. Yes, there were other distilleries putting out fantastic sherried drams (e.g. Aberlour a’Bunadh; even Tamdhu there for a moment), but you could consistently rely on Glenfarclas – across its full age range, i.e. the 10yo, the 12yo, the 15yo, and the 30yo – to deliver sherry addicts their oloroso hit.
Fast forward now to the present, and we are again in different times: The whisky loch has been drained; demand and production has increased everywhere; the cost of sherry casks has gone up even more; and distilleries are now bottling stock that was distilled and laid down in a very different era. Or, in some cases, under different production conditions. For example:
- The majority of Macallan’s releases today would not have been distilled using Golden Promise barley, the cornerstone on which they marketed their product in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. And they now have a range of expressions that aren’t exclusively sherry-cask matured. Such a concept was blasphemy back in 2000!
- Glendronach is now producing with steam-heated stills, whilst the 12yo and 15yo (and older expressions) we are currently enjoying from Glendronach were distilled with direct coal-fired heating. Their floor maltings, which produced a slightly peatier malt than most of their Speyside neighbours, was also decommissioned in 1996, thus there will be a change in the character of the spirit pre and post that event.
- Glenfarclas has had to change and adapt to their rapidly growing market, with sales breaking new records each year. Their core-range has changed in flavour profile somewhat, perhaps showing less oloroso influence than was previously the case, although this of course is offset by the sherried offerings in their Family Casks portfolio.
So let’s get back to the original question that was posed: Is there a rivalry between these distilleries? Let’s explore a little more deeply:
The Glenfarclas 15yo today is a different whisky to what it was 10-15 years ago. There is less oloroso influence than there was in the past. Interestingly, I just got out a bottle of Glenfarclas 12yo which I’ve kept unopened since 2003, and it is significantly darker than the 15yo of today!! So, even as Australia’s most ardent Glenfarclas fan and champion, I must acknowledge and admit that the 15yo is not the big sherried beauty it used to be. I still think it’s a beautiful whisky; I think it shows wonderful balance and now introduces more floral and citrus notes than there used to be (presumably due to a higher concentration of plain oak casks in their vattings), but comparing Glenfarclas 15yo against Glendronach 15yo is no longer apples and apples.
After all, even comparing their age statements is a bit troublesome. Glendronach is currently bottling stock that was laid down a long time ago. Until very recently, their current 15yo Revival expression was actually at least 19 years old (owing to the closure from 1996-2002), and those extra four years’ of maturation tell their story when you come to taste those bottlings. With the distillery coming back on stream in 2002/3, there is now new 15 year old stock available to be bottled, but – as mentioned previously – much of the spirit was filled into ex-bourbon casks upon re-opening, and so the availability of the 15yo Revival can be expected to be extremely limited.
My point is this: Newcomers to the world of single malts might taste the current Glenfarclas 15yo and Glendronach 15yo expressions and wonder why they’re even being compared or pitted against one another in various whisky forums or discussion groups? Why do these distilleries share a common reputation that isn’t reflected in the glass? If you find yourself in that situation, you’ll need to appreciate that this now-apparent difference was not the case fifteen years ago, when the global whisky-loving community started to write and share their collective thoughts on this new fandangled thing called the internet!
Right now, if we were to pit the two distilleries against one another, I think Glendronach wins fans for its regular releases, because the 12, 15, and 21yo expressions are more heavily sherried than their Glenfarclas counterparts. A more fair comparison would be to compare Glendronach’s single cask, limited edition, vintage releases to Glenfarclas’ Family Casks releases.
For many people, a special single cask Glendronach offers a delicious hit of oloroso or pedro ximinez goodness. (The 1994 and 1995 vintage 19yo PX releases come to mind!). Such whiskies are big, bold, juicy, grapey, sweet, syrupy and full. To my palate, a special single cask of Glenfarclas from a first or second fill sherry butt or hogshead offers all of those same features and characteristics…but it presents them with just a touch more complexity, subtlety, finesse, and refinement.
I don’t pretend or fool myself for a moment that this is authoritative. This is all exceptionally subjective, and – when all is said and done – we each have our own tastebuds and can make our own decisions. Is there a rivalry between the two distilleries? Yes, I reckon it’s a safe bet that John Grant and Billy Walker used to enjoy a friendly bit of banter and rivalry, but Glendronach is now in the hands of Brown Forman. However, I would suggest they’re not really competing on the same field. The current Glenfarclas age-range portfolio has moved slightly away from the heavier sherried style. In fact, their 21yo is a particularly American-oak, bourbon cask-driven vatting! But one of the reasons why Glenfarclas has been able to do this is because of the Family Casks range, which they now effectively use to showcase their oloroso single cask credentials.
SO HERE’S THE BIG CONCLUSION when it comes to the rivalry stakes: (Well done if you’ve got this far!) The thing we should keep in mind is that Glendronach’s stocks from pre-1996 are rapidly dwindling. We will all see Glendronach’s regular releases change over the next few years once their post-2002 stock starts to be blended into the vattings… particularly noting that much of the production from 2002 until 2008 went into bourbon casks whilst Pernod Ricard were at the helm. Alternatively, we may even see Glendronach “do a Macallan” and develop a dual-stream portfolio – one where a sherry-cask range is marketed separately and sold at a premium over a less-sherried or even bourbon-exclusive range. Such a change must surely be on the cards, noting they effectively have a 12 year gap in their sherry cask maturation. (1996-2008).
Glenfarclas, on the other hand, has a much greater inventory and “back-catalogue” from pre-1996 and won’t suffer from (a) a six year closure in production, (b) two changes in ownership in a four year period, or (c) a fundamental change in their distilling or maturation regime! So whatever reputations or opinions you may have about these two distilleries at this point in time, you should prepare yourself for the fact that the flavour profiles and goalposts of both distilleries are going to change again in the years to come.
And what about Macallan? Well, if you can afford a bottle…
Cheers,
AD
PS…you might also like this article: Glenfarclas 105 versus Aberlour a’Bunadh
[Update 2024: For an update on Glendronach’s brand refresh and the revamp of their core range (12yo, 15yo, and 18yo), you might like to read our write-up here. And if you’re a fan of Macallan and thinking of visiting the distillery, you might like our article, Visiting the Macallan distillery in 2024 ]
